BY ANY NAME, OUTFIELDER ASENCIO REMAINS TOP PROSPECT

Last year, outfielder Yoan Alcantara was named the No. 1 Prospect in the Arizona Rookie League after hitting .348 with 13 doubles, eight triples, seven homers, 46 RBI and a league-leading 50 runs scored for the AZL Padres.

This season, the same player became the first Single-A Fort Wayne player ever to lead the Midwest League in hitting — batting .323 with 21 doubles, four triples, eight homers, 61 RBI and 47 runs scored in 92 games.

But he’s no longer Yoan Alcantara. And he’s 2½ years older than he was in the fall of 2011.

Like many Latin American players, Yeison Asencio used false identification documents when he originally signed with the Padres in 2009.

His true identification was uncovered last winter by a Major League Baseball department established in the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks to verify the identification of Latin American players signing with Major League clubs.

Asencio was not the only Padres prospect caught with false papers this season. Left-hander pitcher Jose De Paula spent the entire season stuck in the Dominican Republic after his identification documents were determined to be false.

The Padres are far from alone. Most teams with Latin American players have had prospects caught using false identities.

“It’s not the player’s fault,” said Randy Smith, the Padres’ vice president of player development and international scouting.

“Many of these kids are out of school by the third grade. Baseball becomes their ticket to a better life. They wind up getting bad advice from ‘handlers’ who tell them lying about their identity and age to make themselves younger is something they have to do to be signed.”

The Padres thought they signed Alcantara at the age of 16. Instead, they signed Asencio at the age of 18½. The documents Asencio originally submitted were excellent forgeries. MLB cleared him off those documents and he got a visa to come to the U.S. off those documents.

“Yeison’s name didn’t come up until two years later,” said Smith.

That was last fall as Asencio’s name was also popping up on the list of Padres top prospects after his Rookie League season.

And while the Padres and Asencio are both embarrassed that the outfielder was caught in a document check, Smith still regards the free-swinging Asencio as a top prospect.

“In his case, we’d have given him the same $150,000 bonus if we knew his real age,” said Smith of the Dominican Republic product. “All we’ve lost here is a year of development. This kid can play. He might be a 4½-tool prospect to Rymer Liriano’s five-tool rating. Liriano is a better runner.”

Smith noted: “In the long run, this will not slow him down that much.”

But the incident has changed a couple of key elements to his progress. Because of Asencio’s age, the Padres must make a decision this winter about protecting him on an already-crowded 40-man roster. And he spent the 2012 season at least one level below his “age-appropriate” level in the minor leagues.

Minor notes

• Reigning high Single-A California League champion Lake Elsinore was eliminated in the first round of the 2012 playoffs, losing two straight in Lancaster after winning the best-of-three series opener Wednesday night at The Diamond. Lancaster won the rubber match 3-2 Friday night. Right-handed starter Burch Smith took the loss for Lake Elsinore, giving up two runs on five hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out seven.